


Insomnia and Questionable Sanity

by That_One_Parent_Like_Friend



Series: RvB, a Character Study [2]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Agent Washington (Red vs Blue) needs sleep, Agent Washington (Red vs. Blue) Has PTSD, Brain Damage, Character Study, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pre-Season/Series 09, Wash is still adjusting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 17:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_One_Parent_Like_Friend/pseuds/That_One_Parent_Like_Friend
Summary: "Tucker, I- Am I crazy?""Maybe. I mean, Epsilon fucked up your head, right? If you are, it's at least not your fault. But I also can't give you a real answer. Only thing I can say is hell yeah, because who the fuck would willingly stay in a box canyon with a bunch on idiots like us?"Agent Washington is having one of his infamous sleepless nights due to the usual nightmares and residual memories from Epsilon. It leads to him overthinking, and Tucker eventually finds him and forces him back to bed.





	Insomnia and Questionable Sanity

**Author's Note:**

> "You don't need to treat me like that. I'm not crazy, okay? I'm totally, completely sane. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to blow up this dead body."  
>  \- Agent Washington, a.k.a. Recovery One

   _"I'm not crazy, okay?"_

    It was another late night patrol around the base, he couldn't sleep, and his nerves were slowly becoming just as fried as the neural implants in the back of his neck. The peace in Valhalla was almost unsettling and more than a little difficult to get used to after the chaos of being an agent in Freelancer. Sometimes Caboose would get up for a drink or go to the bathroom, but that was pretty much all that happened at night. If Tucker woke up, he didn't bother leaving his room, so it was quiet. For the most part. Some days he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a full night's sleep and didn't constantly have nightmares of the day they implanted Epsilon, or when the Mother of Invention crashed, or even having to blow up the bodies of some of his best friends in the project on the Director's orders.

    So he walked around Blue Base, hoping the routine would calm his mind and he could get a little more sleep before everyone woke up to start another day. But that was hard to do this time, since it wasn't just his mind giving him fits, but the bullet wound from when South shot him in the back, leaving him to die just like she'd done to North. If she hadn't taken Delta, Ma- the Meta would've actually killed him for the AI. He and South had been friends once, back before they'd gotten on that damn leader board. Him, South, Connie, the Triplets . . . . They all used to be at the bottom together, but as soon as they'd started getting higher in rank, things started falling apart.

    South was the first of them to get on the board, desperate to prove she was just as good as North, if not better. He and Connie followed a few months after her, and he remembered how frustrated Ohio had been all the time after that, just wanting her shot at being good enough. Despite the hell he went through in Project Freelancer, Wash had a few reasons to miss it, if only because it meant seeing all of his friends.

    Of course, his mind just wouldn't go quiet. The voices in the back of his head were starting to act up again, one in particular that he had come to know well thanks to Epsilon's obsession with the woman. Or, rather, the Director's. It had taken a long time to figure out the memories Epsilon had forced on him, but thankfully he had a lot of time while in Recovery to just think. To think, he was the only one to know the full extent of the Director's crimes, especially some of the lesser known ones. Not that it mattered anymore, though. Carolina was dead.

    _'But did a recovery beacon ever go off?'_

    He really hated doubting and second-guessing himself. If Carolina was alive, she would've been found by now, simple as that. Except that, aside from Tex, she was the best in Freelancer. _'But if she was so good, she wouldn't have broken like she did.'_

    "Stop it. You're not real. . . . I'm just hallucinating again. That's all," Washington told himself, ignoring his growing headache as best he could. His brain, unfortunately, wanted to disagree on what was best for him. He remembered them all. Allison, Carolina, the Director, the Alpha, and every fragment just as they were taken from the Alpha. It wouldn't stop. Everything was so loud.

    "Wash? Dude, are you okay?"

    The new voice distracted him, sounding much clearer than the ones tormenting him. "Tucker?" he asked, looking up to see the aqua soldier in nothing but a pair of boxers and a shirt. Unfortunately he wasn't coherent enough to thank God for that small miracle, because he couldn't handle a naked Tucker while also having a breakdown like this.

    "Yeah, it's me. C'mon, let's get you back to bed. Got something that might help."

    Wash didn't care what it was, honestly, he just wanted some sleep. So he went with Tucker, hoping whatever it was actually worked. Once the former Freelancer was settled on his bed, the shorter man shoved a glass of water into one hand and put some sleeping pills in the other. The blond just looked at the tablets for a while, as if mulling over if he might need more than the two he'd been given.

    "Tucker, I- Am I crazy?"

    "Maybe. I mean, Epsilon fucked up your head, right? If you are, it's at least not your fault. But I also can't give you a real answer. Only thing I can say is hell yeah, because who the fuck would willingly stay in a box canyon with a bunch on idiots like us?"

    "You might be on to something there. Well, here's hoping this works." And with that, he took the pills, hoping they kicked in soon. Until then, he just laid there, still awake while Tucker watched him to prevent him from continuing his patrols.

**Author's Note:**

> I am oddly really into doing character study-type fics, and I'm 100% blaming it on the fact that I am obsessed with the inner workings of how these characters think. Also, if someone can give me some good quotes for Carolina and Tex, that'd be great. My poor brain can't handle going through all 16 seasons just for a couple of lines of dialogue.


End file.
